The Dark Side of the Moon
by ravelric
Summary: Right after the news about Voldemort's rebirth spread around the Wizarding World, the first female Malfoy descendant decided to take control over her own destiny and headed towards the heart of all the events - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - where she was about to find everything she was ever looking for, and more.
1. Prologue

**AN:** Hello, guys! Some time ago, on the Facebook group Strictly Dramione there came up an idea for someone to start writing a fanfiction based on the edits found on Instagram (by slytherdors), which revolved around one, simple question: what if Draco Malfoy had a sister?

I was glad to volunteer, and... Here we are!

I hope you'll enjoy! xoxo

PS If you are interested in following my writing journey outside this fanfiction, I recommend you to follow my Facebook page "Karo"!

**Prologue**

Lucius stormed out of the room. The world seemed to be revolving around him at an alarming rate, so he started walking back and forth down the hallway to calm his nerves, but it only made it worse. He suddenly stopped when the door behind him opened, but had to clench his teeth instead to keep a straight face.

'Is everything alright, Mr Malfoy?' asked Demelza Brightman, timidly leaning out.

'Yes. No. I don't -' Lucius closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. 'What is _that _supposed to mean?'

'Didn't a medic tell you about that?'

'He told us about _the twins_. Not about the fact, that one of them is...' Mr Malfoy paused for a moment, shook his head, and looked away. 'Go back inside. I'll be there in a second.'

Demelza immediately followed his command and disappeared behind the door from which the crying of two babies could be heard, while Lucius sank into a chair, hiding his head between his arms. He didn't understand what was going on. He knew every aspect of his family's history inside and out and was convinced that despite many differences, each generation of his ancestors had a few things in common such as blond hair, pale skin and, the most crucial at that point, male offspring.

Yet now, only one of the children born it that room fitted this description.

Lucius stayed in this position another few minutes until Demelza showed up again, thereby ending the chaotic race of his thoughts.

'Mr Malfoy...' she started, but he didn't move an inch. 'Mrs Malfoy is worried. She wants you to go back inside.'

There was a moment of heavy silence before Lucius finally stood up, straight and tall, and headed towards the room. He still didn't know what to do nor think, but he understood that right now there were more important things to focus on. His wife should have been the priority and should have gotten all of the attention. Narcissa was currently lying in bed and looking at him with a weak smile on her lips.

The man smiled back at her, but at the very second his eyes fell upon a baby girl sleeping in her mother's arms, he tensed again. Lucius was positive that this child was a bad sign and would lead to nothing but trouble. He felt it in his guts.

And he was determined to prevent it from happening at all costs.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A warning whistle sounded when a blonde-haired girl flowed onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters breathless and covered in sweat.

'Oh, shoot,' she groaned. All of the latecomers around her, moving as one solid group, hurried towards the train. Or attempted to, but they got caught up in the last, rushed goodbyes to their families. The girl just ran the whole way from the other side of the station, where her previous train had stopped a few moments ago, and she felt like her lungs were burning, but the last thing she needed right now was watching her only ticket to Hogwarts leaving without her, so she pressed herself forward over the last few meters.

Only when she stepped inside and the door behind her closed, she let herself lean against the corridor's wall and while still breathing heavily, stay in the position another few minutes. She steadied herself, attempting to calm down and bring her racing heart back to its normal rhythm.

The students kept passing by, joyfully chatting to their friends after the whole summer of separation. In the bustling train, no one seemed to give even a hint of attention to that strange girl looking at them from the side, until one boy, talking about something with great excitement to his taller companion, bumped into her and bounced off right after with the most surprised expression on his face.

'Dennis!' the taller boy cried. 'Watch out a little bit! I'm sorry about my brother. Dennis, what do you say?'

'I'm sorry,' said Dennis apologetically. With his big, blue eyes and conciliatory pose, he evoked a reprimanded puppy.

'It's alright. I'm still in one piece.' She grinned.

The boy smiled back at her but quickly got over the situation by grabbing his brother's sleeve and dragging him ahead. She could hear how he got back to the interrupted story about some new Weasleys' gadgets, effusing the same excitement as before until they both disappeared in the crowd.

The girl sighed and grabbed the handle of her trunk. It was about time for her to go as well. The carriage was slowly becoming more and more deserted, so she headed down the corridor in search of an empty seat.

But the minutes were passing, and she found nothing. Each compartment was filled with laughing students; without a single spot left for her. She peered through some glass-paneled door once again, just to see another full complement. Disappointed, she drew away, not noticing a pair going by behind her. This time she was the one who bumped into an unsuspecting stranger. The boy gasped, and his owl squawked, clearly irritated, in a shaken cage.

'Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry,' she said awkwardly. 'I should be more careful.'

'Don't worry.' She looked up at the boy's face just to see him smiling timidly, rubbing the back of his neck. 'I can't even count how many times I crashed into someone in one of those corridors.'

A pretty, red-haired girl suddenly emerged from behind the boy's back and outran him. 'Harry, let's go,' she rushed him.

'Yeah, sure.' Harry was about to follow her right away, but at the very second he hesitated and frowned. He glanced at the girl once more. 'Wait, do I know you? I mean, I'm not sure if I have ever seen you before.'

'You haven't.' She smiled. 'Actually, it'll be my first year at Hogwarts. I was attending Beauxbatons before.'

'Hence the accent!', acknowledged Harry, but the moment he said it, he seemed to realize how stupid it must have sounded. 'Well, of course, you've got an accent. You're French. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just an observation. I -'. He sighed. 'I should stop talking, shouldn't I?'

The girl grinned and reached her arm towards him.

'Cassio Laurent.'

The boy shook her hand.

'Harry Potter.'

Cassio opened her mouth and looked at him with her eyes widely opened. 'THE Harry Potter?' she asked. 'The famous Boy Who Lived?'

Harry couldn't help but laugh. 'Damn, you _are_ new.'

'Harry!' They both turned around to see the pressing look on the redhead's face, waiting for her friend a few feet ahead. She was standing with her arms crossed, impatiently tapping her foot.

'I gotta go. See you around!' he said and sent Cassio the last smile before heading towards the ginger. Cassio gazed after them for a few longing seconds before she woke up to reality, grabbed her trunk and quickly went in the opposite direction.

That wasn't what she had expected at all. She had always imagined the legendary Harry Potter to be some kind of a dignified wizard emanating the hero energy from every particle of his being, chivalrously saving every damsel in distress encountered on his way. Even the stories told by the seventh years from Beauxbatons participating in the Triwizard Tournament last year didn't weaken this perception and strengthened it instead. They told about all of his achievements and obstacles he'd overcame throughout that year the way that made her believe that all her hunches found their reflections in reality.

Yet now, in her eyes, Harry was just... a teenager. A seems-to-be ordinary boy with a cute smile and friendly disposition, not standing out from the crowd, and claiming he'd been crashing into people on the trains' corridors just like everybody else. There was not even an ounce of that glowing, superhuman spirit she had expected. And, to her surprise, even though one of the main reasons for her transfer from Beauxbatons turned out to not be the person she thought he was, she was far from feeling disappointed.

Cassio was so absorbed in her own thoughts that she almost forgot the purpose of her roam down the train. It wasn't until out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the passed compartment that was taken by a bunch of seconds- and third years had some more empty space than the others, when she turned around and, full of hope, opened the door. All of the students inside looked up at her as she was stepping in.

'Hi, do you mind if I sit here?' she asked.

'Sure, no problem,' replied a freckled girl, lacking a milk-tooth.

'I was hoping it was the Trolley Lady,' muttered a thin boy sitting opposite her. He peered outside at the fields flicking past, with a dramatic expression of a person missing something very dear to their heart. 'I want a Chocolate Frog. I can't find them in any Muggle shop.'

Cassio smiled at him and closed the door behind her. She stowed her trunk in the luggage rack above the girl's head and squeezed herself into an empty space between the boy and the window, from where she could blithely observe the landscapes they were passing by.

She closed her eyes and was about to let the sounds of the moving train and cheery voices of the students tuck her to sleep, when sudden information brought her attention back, driving the sleepiness away.

'They wrote about Potter again,' announced a third year holding the _Daily Prophet_, and both the freckled girl sitting on his one side and a blonde one sitting on the other immediately leaned in to take a look.

Cassio noticed a photo of a handsome boy smiling at her from the cover of the newspaper, in who she recognized Cedric Diggory, the one, whose death crowned the last task of the Triwizard Tournament. Right below, she could read a disturbing title of the lead article: "POTTER-PLOTTER: The Boy Who Killed?".

'What do they write?' asked the boy awaiting for the Chocolate Frogs.

'Give me a second.' The third year frowned, reading into the text. 'They start with some random things about Cedric; how people loved him, and so on. Then they harp on the possibilities of how he died. You know, if the rebirth of You-Know-Who is a lie, then he couldn't kill Cedric, clearly. And Potter was the only person who was there with him. It's kinda suspicious, isn't it?'

'How could you say that?' sickened the freckled girl. 'Don't you remember how upset he was when they showed up? How he didn't want to let go of Cedric's body? How could he pretend such emotions while being his murderer?'

'Exactly!', agreed the blonde one. 'Also, do you remember how during the second task he stayed under water to make sure everyone's okay instead of getting back to the surface? No bad person would even think of doing that.'

'He did so many amazing things. I even heard that he started his first year by fighting a troll just to save Hermione Granger,' added the first one. 'How could someone like that kill his friend?'

'I'm just saying we can't be sure about anything right now.' The girls' accusations made him feel distinctly defensive. 'No one else was there to see that. And no one heard about You-Know-Who since.'

'What a mess,' sighed the Chocolate Frog boy. 'If I'm being honest, right now, I'm kind of glad that my parents are Muggles. At least they don't know much about what's going on in here. Do you know how many families spent the summer debating if they should send their children back to Hogwarts? Alan told me because his parents were arguing about that too.'

'The most _hilarious_ is how different their reasons are,' said a girl, who hasn't spoken before. She was sitting in the opposite corner of the compartment, smiling sadly. 'Some of them are afraid of You-Know-Who and his return, while others are concerned about Harry Potter being a freak, and Dumbledore, a supporting him fool.'

Everyone flinched when the door suddenly opened, and an elder lady leaned in with a wide smile on her face.

'Anything from the trolley, dears?'

'Finally!', the Chocolate Frog boy was figuratively jumping with excitement digging through his pockets in search of money. All of the kids almost immediately followed his example and started swarming around the cart.

'Hey.' Cassio grabbed a sleeve of the boy, who told them about the article and was currently getting ready to force his way through in order to buy some sweets. 'Can I borrow your paper for a moment?'

'Yeah, sure, go for it.'

Cassio grabbed the newspaper and sat back down on her previous spot, unlike everybody else not showing any interest in the food offered by the Trolley Witch. For a moment she gazed at Cedric's photo and then started thumbing through until she found what she was looking for.

**POTTER-PLOTTER: The Boy Who Killed?**

**HARRY POTTER – Exemplary Student And Friend OR Conspirator And Murderer?**

_After tragic events of the last June, our journalist, Ava Ainsworth, once again looked into the case of the mysterious death of one of the Hogwarts' leading students. Cedric Diggory was not only one of the four participants of the last Triwizard Tournament (as well as Fleur Delacour, Viktor Krum, and Harry Potter), but also a beloved friend, boyfriend, and son, whose heartbreaking end took a toll on everyone who knew him._

_"I still can't believe he is gone", admitted Cho Chang, Cedric's girlfriend. "Sometimes I wake up, and for a brief second, I just don't remember. That's the best moment of my day because the rest of it I must spend knowing he is no longer out there."_

_The death of that golden boy couldn't go unnoticed and the whole wizarding community still mourns him to this day, asking over and over again one, simple question: WHAT HAPPENED?_

_Unfortunately, the truth, by means of Harry Potter's reluctance to cooperate, remains unclear and answers remind more of pure speculations than actual facts. The Boy Who Lived, as he used to be referred to, was the last person, who saw Cedric Diggory alive, but he refuses to testify about what really happened that day, upholding his story about the alleged rebirth of the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Mr Potter claims that the Dark Lord, who was defeated 14 years ago, came back to life just to take away Cedric's, and then disappeared before anyone else had a chance to see him._

_Certainly, it rose doubts. Some wizards, who prefer to remain anonymous, even dared to suggest that Harry Potter himself, with the support of infamous Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, was not only the reason but also the cause of Cedric Diggory's death..._

Cassio stopped reading and handed the newspaper back to its owner, barely refraining herself from tearing it into pieces. She clenched her teeth, and, with all her might, tried to stop herself from shaking by focusing on her breathing instead. She closed her eyes and started counting, not stopping until she got to one hundred and her nerves were completely under control.

She couldn't believe that such a widely respected press as _Daily Prophet_ had the bottle to release and diffuse that kind of slanders against one of the most righteous and kind-hearted people she had ever heard about. Harry Potter was a heroic legend around the Wizarding World for the last fourteen years, and it seemed unbelievable for someone to be bold enough to accuse him of doing something so wicked.

Before her final decision on the transfer, Cassio spent a whole month doing nothing but digging into that case to make sure that she was making the right one. She read every single paper and book that brought up the subject of the Dark Wizard's life, death, and rebirth – and therefore of the Harry Potter's. When there was not a single mention in newspapers left, she realized that her perspective remained clear: she believed him. And she was upset that others didn't, because while everyone else was discussing is Harry Potter's mendacity, or his craziness, closer to the truth, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was hiding somewhere, collecting his servants back, and gaining power.

And that thought was driving her insane.

Cassio had known there was nothing she could do in her then-current position, and she didn't want to just sit and watch from the safe and passive nest of Beauxbatons how the whole Wizarding World would fall apart right before her eyes. She knew she had to take appropriate steps and there was only one thing that left for her to do in order to achieve that purpose.

'We need to talk,' she announced in French, while her parents were chatting in the kitchen. They paused their conversation and looked at her with curiosity. 'I want to transfer to Hogwarts.'

At the sound of those words, her mother dropped the mug she was holding onto, and immediately, with shaky hands, started cleaning up the mess she caused, not looking at her daughter. Her father coughed.

'What are you talking about, dear?'

'Well, you know that I took the whole of July to examine the details of the rumours about You-Know-Who's rebirth, right?' she started. Now, they were both gazing at her attentively, and she was doing her best to not let them see how stressed that monologue was making her. 'After that, I am certain that I believe in their truthfulness. I believe that You-Know-Who is somewhere there, waiting for the right moment to come out of the shadow and provide chaos. I want to be an active part of the line of resistance when it happens. But I can't do it from here. I have to be where it all started, where Triwizard Tournament took place. Where Harry Potter is.' She paused for a brief moment. 'That's why I exchanged letters with Professor Dumbledore. I told him about my reflections and he seemed to understand my situation. He promised to take care of the official side of the transfer so the fact of me being French would not cut across the plan of my attendance to the wizarding school for English students.' She held her breathe. 'The only thing I need is your permission.'

An unsettled silence filled the kitchen. All three of them looked at each other with a great tense hanging in the air; not sure, who should speak up and what to tell.

'You learned that speech by heart, didn't you?' said her father in order to lighten the mood.

Cassio tightened her lips but nodded awkwardly. 'What do you think?'

Mrs Laurent glanced at her husband, with a quiet warning hidden in her eyes.

'Well...' he started, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. 'I don't think it's a good idea, honey.'

'What? Why not?'

'The best case scenario is that you will go to the school three hundred miles away, without any support, for nothing. That itself seems pretty extreme.' He paused. 'But if what Potter says is true, you will be in great danger. You are practically saying that you are ready to die from the hands of the most dangerous wizard of our times. You have to understand that as your parents, we are... concerned.'

'But I _have to_ do this!' she said with emphasis. 'I can't just sit and watch. If Potter is right, then sooner or later I may be in danger no matter where I am. Also, you have to remember that I would be attending the safest school in the world, with Albus Dumbledore at the head of it, I won't be in danger unless it's a crisis situation. But a crisis situation could happen anywhere, anytime.'

Her parents exchanged worried looks. She could see the millions of horrible thoughts and scenarios running through their minds all at once, so she came closer, and grabbed their hands in hers in a gesture of encouragement.

'Please, I know what I'm doing. And I can always come back.'

A grimace appeared on her father's face.

'Yeah, but you see, we promised –'

'Ourselves!' Her mother interrupted immediately, cleared her throat, and started again, 'We promised ourselves that we will be watching out for your safety no matter what. You understand how hard this situation is for us.'

'Yeah, I get it. And I don't want to rush you. Take your time.' Cassio smiled. 'But I really hope you will let me do this. I need it.'

And, after a whole night full of dynamic discussion and dramatic whispering, they finally did.

The next few weeks she spent on preparations. Packing and preordering the required equipment straight to the Headmaster's office turned out to be the easiest challenge of all because while those ones didn't take long, the rest of them occupied every single second of her free time. If she wasn't exchanging letters with Dumbledore, people from the British and French Ministry of Magic or friends from Beauxbatons dismayed with her decision, she was cramming in order to catch up with Hogwarts' educational materials. Despite being ahead in some subjects, thanks to her previous school system, she was also falling behind in case of the others.

And now, due to her stubbornness and hard work, she was sitting at Hogwarts Express, on her way to the place she couldn't get out of her head for the past two months.

'Hey, we're here!' someone cried, waking Cassio up. For a moment, the girl was very confused by the fact that she didn't even notice when she fell asleep. 'Let's go!'

The newspaper boy, who was also the tallest one, started reaching out for the trunks stowed in the luggage racks and handing them to their owners. Each one of the students gathered in the compartment quickly and chaotically checked if they aren't missing anything, after which they started spilling out right into the crowded corridor, where all the teenagers were forcing their way to the doors. Unlike them, Cassio waited until the multitude thinned a bit before stepping into it. She checked her pockets once again, and only then went out.

Outside, she noticed first years assembling on the side, while the older students headed towards the horseless stagecoaches waiting for them a little further.

'Excuse me,' she asked an elderly witch, who was calling out the youngest ones. 'My name is Cassio Laurent, and I –'

'Oh, sure, dear,' the witch interrupted her with a smile. 'I am Professor Grubbly-Plank. Professor Dumbledore told me all about you. You shall go with me. I know it may feel bizarre to come the same way that first years do, as a fifteen-year-old, but that's the tradition and you just have to get through it. Every Hogwarts' student has to participate in the Sorting Ceremony.'

'Of course, I don't mind at all,' she said tucking her hair behind her ear. 'Actually, I'm pretty excited.'

When Professor Grubbly-Plank made certain that no one got left behind, she lead them onto the edge of a lake from which the lightning towers of Hogwarts could already be seen. The students headed towards the few dozen moored boats waiting at the shore.

After everyone got in, the professor commanded all the boats to move off, and each one of them dutifully started floating over the water's surface. For the next minutes Cassio could admire the outstanding view of the castle against the backdrop of a starry sky, until they sailed right into a dark tunnel, and, shortly after, found themselves in some kind of an underground harbour.

Professor Grubbly-Plank quickly checked if everyone had got off, and then conducted them to the castle door, where she knocked three times. They didn't have to wait long for it to open, and in front of their eyes appeared a tall, severe-looking witch in tartan-patterned robes.

'Welcome, first years... and Miss Laurent,' she said, glancing at Cassio. 'I will take you from here.'

**AN:** Writing this chapter, I realized how jealous I am of people, who, how some smart person on Tumblr said, sneeze and 5000 words magically appear in their doc, haha! This text was three days of constant typing and headache, but in the end, I am proud of myself and satisfied with the result. And I hope you enjoyed it as well!

If you like my writing (or not?) tell me about your thoughts and reflections!

Also, I encourage you to follow my writing Facebook page "Karo". I am over the moon with every single follower, like, comment or share. They mean the world to me!

PS I know, some of you might have expected the girl to be named Silver Malfoy, not Cassio Laurent, but trust me - I know what I'm doing, haha!

xoxo


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